Royal family massacre 'was an accident'

The shooting massacre of eight members of Nepal’s royal family was an "accident", the country’s acting king claimed today.

Prince Gyanendra contradicted officials who suggested that Crown Prince Dipendra killed King Birendra, the queen and six other royals in a dispute.

He did not name the 29-year-old Crown Prince, who was on life support after the shootings, as the gunman. Dipendra was named king to succeed his father, and Gyanendra was named regent.

In a statement today Gyanendra, who is Dipendra’s uncle and brother to the late king, said: "According to the information we have, the incident happened by an accidental firing of an automatic weapon, seriously injuring the king, the queen, the crown prince and members of the royal family."

By mentioning the gunfire, the caretaker king went further than the government newspaper, Rising Nepal, which referred only to "an unanticipated incident".

Official sources said on Saturday that Dipendra shot and killed his parents and six other relatives at the palace late on Friday and then turned the gun on himself.

A senior military official said the dispute apparently erupted after his mother, Queen Aiswarya, objected to his intended bride.

Government officials were unavailable for comment today.

The deaths - and the conflicting explanations - left a stunned country wondering what happened and where the monarchy goes next.

Many Nepalis refuse to believe that the crown prince slaughtered the royal family.

Although a popular uprising in 1990 stripped Birendra of absolute power and installed parliamentary democracy, the royal family remained widely popular.

The soft-spoken king won hearts with frequent visits to rural areas, where he patiently listened to the problems of villagers.

Queen Aiswarya, more aloof, was known for her beauty.

Prince Gyanendra kept out of the limelight but is respected for his conservation work in this starkly beautiful but very poor kingdom.

It was believed to have been the worst mass killing of royals since the Romanovs were slain on the order of Vladimir Lenin in 1918 during the Russian civil war.

The dead included Birendra, 55; the queen, 51; their son Prince Nirajan, 22; and daughter, Princess Shruti, 24, who had two daughters.

The others killed were Princess Sharada Shah and Princess Shanti Singh, both sisters of the slain king; Kumar Khadga Bikram Shah, Sharada’s husband; and Princess Jayanti Shah, a cousin of the late king. Three other people wounded were in stable condition.

Hundreds of thousands of people tossed flowers, wailed and prayed on Saturday night, as they followed the funeral procession to the holiest shrine in this Himalayan kingdom, where the bodies were cremated.

Gyanendra, dressed in military white, led the procession, which started at sunset and was broadcast on state television.

Wrapped in red cloth, the bodies of the king and queen, their daughter and a son were placed on bamboo and bronze palanquins and carried on the shoulders of Brahmin priests.

The procession marched eight miles from the military hospital to the Pashupatinath temple on the bank of the Bagmati River, followed by throngs of grieving citizens.

At the temple, the bodies were laid on pyres of sweet-smelling sandalwood. A cousin, Deepak Bikram Shah, lighted the pyres of the king and queen, while Brahmin priests set fire to the other pyres.

The ashes were to be scattered along the holy river. Hindus in Nepal must be cremated within 24 hours of their death.

Today groups of angry youths yelled accusations today that the government had conspired against the royal family.

The government said it would investigate the situation. Deputy Prime Minister Ram Chandra Paudel said involvement by Maoist rebels had been ruled out.

The government angered some people by waiting until Saturday afternoon to make a formal announcement about the deaths and acting king. It included no details in the announcement.

Political analyst Shreedhar Khatri said the government should have informed the public more quickly.

"An unthinkable act has been committed that has pushed the nation to a state of confusion," Khatri said. "However, with the government making no effort to make public announcements, it is even creating a greater confusion."